Believe it or not he bought it at a yardsale of all places....well sort of, he had me look it over and test drive it for him first, then he bought it. He got a great price for a great car.
It's a '78 Z/28, LM1 350 4 barrel, M21 T10 4spd with 3.73's, in '78 the only way to get 3.73's in a Camaro was to buy a 4spd 49 state or Canada emissions Z/28.
This particular car has a documented 104k kms and has lived its life indoors since it was sold in Barrie, Ontario new. 2 previous owners before my dad, the last owner had it for 25 years before he ended up buying a brand new Viper....
To safety it I had to do a few things, it needed tires, the old ones were just dry rotted from sitting, so new 235/60R15 Radial T/A's I bought and installed on it, when it was on the hoist I checked it over good, the transmission has a new centerforce clutch, hurst shifter assembly, there's new U joints, all new E brake cables, all new lines front to back, the suspension has had a recent rebuild front and rear, new rear springs, engine shows signs of a previous rebuild long ago, or perhaps just a refresh, judging by how it lopes and looks I would say it's had a solid lifter cam and gear to gear timing set installed for sure, it has an aftermarket intake and holley carb on it as well, hooker headers ETC. But the numbers on the tranny and block match the car, so the drivetrain is original to this car, all the sheet metal is original with the exception of the rear quarter panels which were replaced when the colour was changed from #69 Dark Camel Brown to #77 Carmine Red. The quarters were replaced due to quarter sized holes behind the rear tires, Like I said, the previous owner spared no penny, the car got full quarters. Then a BC/CC job.
I had to replace a few bulbs, the washer pump, tires, and that was it.
I'm willing to admit that this car will run hard and scare you shitless if you unleash it completely. I was impressed the first time I gave it a good hard run...and I don't like Camaro's.
Underneath the undercoating is still the original paint on the floors and we have the original build sheet and all documentation for the car.
More importantly, my dad loves the car and is proud of it, he's actually taking an interest in me showing him how to wrench on it. My mom even sort of approves of it. My dad was even able to attend his favorite car show that he and I go to together, but this time with his own car...Prior to the show I taught him how to buff the car as the paint was kind of tough looking as the previous owner had never even so much waxed it..
The fight to get the car on the road in a hurry for my dad and then the fight to store it was worth it to see my dad happy, frankly he deserve's it after raising 4 of us and putting a house over our heads and food on the table, not to mention all of the things he's done for myself and my siblings all of our lives, I only wish my siblings were as appreciative as I am.
I have some stuff to do to it in the spring, the rear main is leaking from sitting, so I'll yank the motor and deal with that, repaint the motor and detail up the engine bay, It needs new grilles as the originals are cracking, the stripe kit is showing its age and could stand to be replaced, it needs the rear window trim repainted, and it has some type of resistance issue within the starting circuit...
I asked my dad to pose with his car so I could take a picture....this is important to me as I know he may not be around forever, and I want to spend as much time with him as I can.
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